The Bombay High Court on Thursday allowed private unaided institutions to conduct their own Common Entrance Tests for Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management (PGDBM) courses for the academic year 2011-12. Division Bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice S J Vazifdar today stayed the circulars issued by the state government and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) stating that they would conduct a single CET for admission to all PGDBM courses. The association of private unaided institutes had opposed the decision by moving HC. It said colleges had already chalked out CET schedules. Yet,the state published a notice on January 1,2011 stating that it would conduct a single CET,for all colleges. "It is not possible to have a single common entrance test with same pattern and eligibility as there are several disciplines and categories in the courses. Single window system cannot be endorsed by the government here as is done in medical and engineering courses," said senior advocate Aspi Chinoy,appearing for the petitioner. The association contended that the state Government's decision violated constitutional right of private colleges,upheld by the Supreme Court in P A Inamdar case,where court held that managements of private institutes had unfettered fundamental right to choose students for admission. "The (government's) insistence on conducting admission process for PGDBM despite its dismal performance is not only illegal and unconstitutional but also unreasonable," it said. Referring to the government's purported failure in handling admissions for MBA course in 2009-10,when about 10,000 seats had remained vacant,the petition added that the state machinery was incapable of holding CET. The state government had however opposed this argument,stating that a single CET would regulate the admission process better. At the national level,there are five entrance tests for management courses: Common Aptitude Test (CAT),Management Aptitude Test (MAT),XLRI Admission Test (XAT),AIMS Test for Management Aptitude (ATMA) and Joint Management Entrance Test (JMET).
